It’s Like Comparing Fast Food to Fine Dining

Like it or not, all smokers are lumped together into a group, usually for the purpose of casting disdain upon us. This is especially true for the antis who site skewed “junk science” to prove that we’re just behind a monkey with a machine gun in terms of our ability to harm. But there are many reasons why pipe and premium cigar smokers shouldn’t be compared to cigarette users, and that’s the focus of this little post.

- Most pipe and cigar smokers are more moderate in their use of tobacco. If I want to, I can go days, weeks or even months without a smoke. I’ve been in venues for entire days where there’s no place to smoke, and I don’t get twitchy or surly. The main reason is the way that nicotine is absorbed while smoking a pipe or cigar. If you’re not inhaling (and I never do), the nicotine is only absorbed by the mucus membranes of the mouth, which is a very small surface area. It takes about 15 to 20 minutes for the nicotine to enter your system this way. Cigarette smokers, who usually do inhale, are exposing the smoke to the alveoli of the lungs, which have a huge surface area, and the nicotine will enter the system very quickly. In fact, it takes less than 10 seconds for nicotine to break the blood/brain barrier. That’s why cigarette smokers experience a “head rush” after that first cigarette in the morning.

- As I mentioned above, most pipe and cigar smokers don’t inhale. That’s because smokers who enjoy premium tobacco products are looking for flavor and aroma more than anything else. Cigarette smokers barely taste their cigarettes, or if they do, it’s only on the first puff or two.

- As proof of the importance of flavor, if a pipe smoker doesn’t care for Latakia, or a cigar smoker doesn’t like maduros, they won’t smoke one, even if there’s nothing else to smoke – they’ll just do without. But if a cigarette smoker is out of their regular brand and want a smoke, they’ll even accept (God forbid!) a menthol light until they can get to a store.

- If a pipe or cigar smoker only has 10 minutes, they won’t try to fit a cigar or a bowl of tobacco into that timeframe. Premium products are meant to be savored, so they’re generally only used when the time permits.

- Regardless of what the anti-smoking zealots say, there’s a major difference in health concerns. Pipe and cigar smokers (again, usually) don’t inhale. That means that the amount of smoke that actually reaches is lungs is miniscule in comparison to a cigarette. I’ve been smoking both pipes and cigars for 40 years and my doctor is amazed at how clear my lungs are, how good my blood pressure is and how low my resting heart rate is. I actually had to inform him of the differences, and although he would prefer that I quit, he now understands that cigarettes are far riskier than cigars and pipes.

- Quality and consistency are not the hallmarks of cigarettes. The companies that make them, with the exception of smaller boutique-type operations, aren’t too concerned about the grade of the leaf or buying from the same farmers. For premium products, quality and consistency is what they hang their hat on. As much as pipe tobacco companies work hard to keep their blends the same year-in and year-out, cigar manufacturers (the good ones, at least) are almost fanatical about quality control.

If you enjoy a handmade cigar or fine pipe blend, you already understand all this, and if you’re like me, it rankles you a bit to be painted with the same broad brush as cigarette smokers, but we know the truth, don’t we?

Russ Ouellette is the blender/creator of the Hearth & Home series of tobaccos for www.pipesandcigars.com in Bethlehem, PA. He has been a pipe smoker and blender for over 30 years, and enjoys feedback from the pipe smoking public. You can reach Russ at russo@pipesandcigars.com or by calling 1-800-494-9144.

I’m an ex cigarette smoker, who quit many years ago, and your comparisons are spot on. I only recently started smoking a pipe, so I didn’t take it up as a new nicotine delivery method.

When I smoked cigarettes I was physically and mentally addicted to nicotine. I became irritable if I had to go any length of time without a cigarette, I had a horrible smoker’s cough, and I felt awful. Despite all the negative side effects, I smoked cigarettes because I had to have them. I dreaded not having them and a day without them only compounded the daily grind.

Everything about pipe smoking is different. I often go days without smoking my pipe and it doesn’t affect my mood at all. I don’t have a cough (because I don’t inhale), and my pipe has never made me feel tired or run down. I don’t dread not smoking my pipe, instead I look forward to it. Unlike cigarettes, I don’t have to smoke my pipe as a necessity but rather I choose to do so as a quiet escape from the daily grind.

Really a FANTASTIC article Russ! This one is what ought to be on the front page of a daily newspaper. So many folks assume that all smokers smoke cigarettes! I’ve been seeing a particular doctor now for almost FIVE years. At my last six month check up she asked how many packs of cigs I smoke a day. Ya might think and I told her so recently, that somebody ought to have made a note there in that column that I’ve been smoking a pipe for 40+ years. Haven’t had a Lucky Strike or any other cigarette for 10 years this past May.
I can go long periods without strangling someone who even deserves it but dammit sometimes I just want my pipe!

I am a pipe smoker, and I love it, but i do enjoy an occasional hand made cigarette. And so I think its unfair to lump all cigarette smokers in one group. Though, I dont disagree that cigarettes are bad for you, and that they have ruined it for everybody – but I feel a majority of this issue has to do with Machine Made Cigarettes and BIG Tobacco.
Guided by You and Mark R. the RYO world is alot different then regular cigarettes in taste, flavor, and aroma. The smokes are definitly savored, if only just 15 minutes. But its unfair to say that if you only have a short break, that it couldnt be enjoyed with a premium hand made cigarette. We wouldnt sip scotch with a machine made cigar would we? and we wouldnt chastise the pipe smoker with a bowl loaded with the foulest OTC either, so why assume all cigarette smokers are the same? Maybe the brush we are painting with is a roller after all. Blame Big tobacco, and there money making methods for the problems. last time I checked, nobody was using DAP or homogenized leaf in anything handmade and I have never once struggled with addiction or the “Jones” since i made the change away from Machine made products. In fact, I find myself more addicted and have heavier cravings to the pipe then anything else. A pipe will satisfy me, where a cigarette is just smoking cause I like to.

Yeah! I suffered a head injury and whilst in recovery smoked cigarettes. During check ups with my consultant he was never amused at my blood pressure. But a few years later, although I still smoked pipes and cigars, he was impressed to see my B.P to 104/68: by simply quitting cigarettes, but not stopping pipes/cigars! I never inhale pipes or cigars, but love the taste. I never smoked a cigarette and thought “wow, what a flavour “!